Afterglow
by Julianna Tala
Summary: 'Thunderous footsteps were heard miles away as the people of Magnolia heard the increasing sound move closer. He had to get to her, had to get there in time.' Major Gale with hints of Nalu


_This my first time writing Fairy Tail fanfic let alone a Gajevy fanfic._

_I apologize in advance for any mistakes and I hope you enjoy it! I thank the recent chapter of Fairy Tail for giving me these wonderful feels as well as rboz and blanania for their amazing art! They are the reason I love this couple so much! I will be posting this on my DA account as well and it's already on tumblr for the Afterglow prompt. GAJEVY LUV!_

_The image cover belongs to another awesome Gale artist- Approvesport_

* * *

Thunderous footsteps were heard miles away as the people of Magnolia heard the increasing sound move closer. Pedestrians moved to the sides of the streets as parents hurried their children out of the way to avoid the hulking figure that was making a beeline straight to the hospital that lay at the edge of town, with the occasional shouts and curses to move out of his way.

You see most of the people of Magnolia were already used to this sort of thing from the mages of Fairy Tail such as The Fire Dragon Slayer 'Salamander' Natsu Dragneel and his team, Team Shadowgear and the rare occasional visit of the ever-powerful Glidarts Clive, who's very magic is so powerful and destructive that the entire town of Magnolia was rearranged each time upon his return to prevent any property damage caused by his magic. Whereas the more senior people were used to this kind of hustle-n-bustle, even they had to double-take just to make sure that what they were seeing was very real and they were seeing this fearsome mage run through the streets and canals as though he had the hell-hounds of Hades nipping at his ankles…Now you are probably wondering who this person is and why said person is in a such hurry…..and to a hospital no less…

Very well….I shall tell you…..but I believe this kind of retelling should start at the very beginning….

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

From the very moment he set foot into the town (both in the figurative and literally sense of the word), everybody knew exactly who this fearsome mage was: Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer, 'Kurogane'. There was no memory spared from his image that didn't invoke some kind of fear and/or respect for the power and strength this man possessed. If you could ask anyone random person off the street what was the one thing that came to that person's mind when they heard of the Iron mage's name, this would be the general consensus:

'_Oh God….'_

'_Scary!'_

'_That's one tall mage!'_

'_Are those…..piercings?!'_

'_Scary!'_

'_Red eyes like blood…'_

'_How the hell did his hair get that thick?'_

'_Should I run in the opposite direction or just run?!'_

'_Oh God…'_

'_He eats metal…..WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED!'_

'_Oh God….'_

…..Well…. you get the idea.

This kind of response could also be in accordance with the fact that Gajeel didn't exactly get off on the right kind of start when it came to introductions, if you can call crucifying a couple of Fairy Tail mages to the tallest tree in Magnolia Park and leave the calling card in the forms of iron shackles and a rival guild mark followed with kidnapping, torturing, and fighting in a sort of annihilation game as any kind of introduction whatsoever.

After the rival war with Phantom Lord and its dismemberment, people were still weary of the man even after his reluctant acceptance into Fairy Tail, but none was more hesitant or terrified than the very person who was bolted onto the tree herself and branded with Phantom Lord's mark, Levy McGarden. She fought with herself on an everyday basis to not cringe as soon as she spotted him as she walked into the guild, to not scream in terror each time she felt the hot gaze that matched the color of his eyes on her, to not be nauseous as she remembered the blow to her stomach that made her pass out after a long drawn out battle with him. In the end, all she could do was hide and pray for things to get better.

It wasn't until after the incident with Laxus and the Raijinshuu coup at the Fantasia Parade that Levy began to see Gajeel for the man he truly was underneath his rough-and-tough exterior: honest, loyal, brave, and a bit of a tsundere coupled with a few caring points here and there, and it wasn't until the attack on Tenrou Island that Levy realized that she was completely, utterly, undeniably in love with the Iron Dragon Slayer.

Now with Gajeel Redfox, he didn't exactly know when he fell in love with the cute and adorable Shrimp but he did know what he felt when he did actually meet her: guilt and anger.

Anger at his former master for giving the order of starting a war with the Fairies by any means necessary; Anger at the love-sick idiots she called her best friends that couldn't even put up a decent fight to protect her, no matter how much they belly-ached and bitched at each other and at him to prove themselves for her; And finally, anger at himself for even thinking about hurting her, let alone actually touching her to cause harm.

That's when guilt sank into him like a heavy boulder that was dropped to the bottom of the ocean.

It didn't help any that every time he came across her path or even looked her way, the color that made her cheerful and sweet face would drain into a pale white canvas as her body began to shake in terror, bringing herself to hide behind whatever hid her small stature from his stare, making her usual scent of lavender and old tomes be consumed with the sharp twinge of pure fear.

Each time she did, it felt like a stake was being driven into his heart, leaving his soul open and bare to the vicious claws of nightmares that soon followed during the lone nights, showing every one of his sins over and over again like some sick horror movie stuck on repeat. What made these nightmares worse each time was her voice: begging, pleading for him to stop, to not do this. In the end it was always her screams that jolt him awake, to make his heart pump erratically, to make his mind spiral out of control with rage and sorrow, and make his nights sleepless.

It wasn't until after he took that cheap shot from Laxus that was aimed right at Levy that he vowed to never let her experience pain again, to protect her at all costs. It wasn't until after she had told him and Salamander to take down Sparky and freed them from the runes that kept them out of the Fairy Tail Royale that he saw her in different light; that she was incredible and strong, stronger than he could ever hope to be.

From there, as they begin to open up more and more to each other, he began to take notice of all the small things about her. Such as the way her face would change as she read whatever book that was amusing her right then, how her lips would pout in a peeved manner when he called her one of his many nicknames for her: Shorty, Tiny, Shrimp, Short Stack and so on, the way her hips swayed as she walked by, beckoning his eyes to follow that perfect curve that made her ass.

Everything that made her Levy: her smile, her laugh, her short wavy hair that could make the very heavens envious of the color, her innocence, her smarts, her feisty yet soothing soul that matched her scent, he wanted, no _needed_, to have in his life. Now and forever...

It wasn't until after the Tenrou Island incident that he realized that he was utterly, hopelessly, un-fucking-deniably in love with the Shorty…

And it wasn't until after the battle of Tartarus and END that she returned his feelings with her own.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~XX~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Back to the original topic: the matter of Gajeel running as though his very life depended on it and towards the hospital of all things. I think it's time for this to take form on its own. Shall we follow, fellow readers?

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~XX~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

He was running. If there was ever a time that he could recall running this fast or hard for anything, this would have definitely over-shadowed it. But he pushed himself. He had to get to her, had to get there in time.

"Fuckin' Salamander. That is the last time I let him talk me into takin' a job at the last minute." Gajeel growled, paying no mind to whoever heard him as he bobbed and weaved through the buildings. Fuckin' Salamander, fuckin' mission that took too long than necessary (fuckin' pansy-ass noble that couldn't deal with a couple of loan-sharks on his own), fuckin' train for havin' a shitty ass maintenance guy that caused the engine blow out, leaving them stuck on the tracks at least 15 miles from Magnolia. His patience was already frayed at that point and he wasn't know to be very patient.

From above him, Lily watched his friend leap over canals, jump over ledges, anything to make a straight line towards the hospital on the edge of town. Honestly, they would have been there faster if Gajeel would think for once instead of running off and let Lily fly him to the hospital. The minute exceed could only sigh as the hospital came into view.

Gajeel ran into the hospital….well it was more like he ran straight into the hospital doors as they didn't open in time for him to go through. It was a wonderment that they didn't break on impact.

With a string of muffled curses, he cradled his (hopefully not bleeding) nose and walked through the now-open doors towards the front desk. "Oi, where's Levy Redfox's room?"

The nurse that was stationed there was a woman in her late forties with her salt and pepper hair tied back in a bun and while she had her fair share of ruffians come in and out, it didn't mean that she had to tolerate that kind of attitude, especially if it came from a long-haired punk. "Excuse me but only family members can visit Ms. Redfox right now." She sniffed.

"Lady I'm her husband." Gajeel growled low, his patience wearing very thin right now. "And I ain't askin' again, where is my wife?" He enunciated through his teeth.

The nurse didn't like this at all. "Why I never—!"

Suddenly Lucy popped out of nowhere, grabbing Gajeel by the arm to drag him back a bit. "Oh my goodness! There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you. Thank you ever so much for finding my brother-in-law, Nurse Hallingen." She interrupted in an overly-sweet tone as she dragged the slightly confused dragon slayer down the hall as she waved to the older nurse.

"Aww, you're very welcome sweetie." The tone changing to a warm and welcoming tone as they disappeared down the hall.

Lucy kept pulling Gajeel until they reached the designated room that had number plaque on the wall with the name Levy M. Redfox under it. The blonde celestial mage deposited Gajeel not-too-gently onto the seat that was underneath the plaque and placed her hands on her hips to show her irritation. "You're very lucky that you barely made it in time, Gajeel. She just went into labor. Where the heck were you?"

"Hey, back off, Bunny Girl. If anything, ya should be bitin' Salamander's head off for forcing me into take the job last minute. And the train got stuck on the tracks so it wasn't exactly my fault to begin with. I made it didn't I?" Gajeel crossed his arms, his heel beginning to tap in a bit of a hurry.

Lucy only sighed in defeat. "I guess you're right. Like I said, she barely went into labor so hopefully it shouldn't take long."

Gajeel nodded in response as he tapped his fingers against his knees before he noticed something. It was too quiet. "Oi. Ain't there supposed to be screamin' or somethin' if the Shrimp is in labor already?"

"Normally yes, but the hospital is trying a new policy to apply sound barriers spells to help improve the quality of life and to overall improve the environment to other hospital patients." Lucy replied smartly.

Gajeel only gave her a blank look that said 'Yeah I saw your mouth move, but its words I don't know.'

"It's to help keep others in the hospital calm." Lucy sighed in defeat.

"Oh….I got it."

"Of course you do. By the way, where's Natsu?" She looked at him questiongly.

"Left him on the train when it got stuck." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"What?! "

"Relax, Bunny Girl. The flame-brain 's probably on his way back now as we speak. Hell, he's probably at the guild right now."

"Baka! That's not the point!"

"So? Gihi…"

Just as Lucy was about to yell at Gajeel, another voice piped in.

"Hi guys, look who I found on the way in."

Both mages turned to find Wendy holding both Lily and Charle in her arms like stuffed animals while Happy was being held by a still slightly green Natsu.

"Glad to see that you caught up, Salamander. Gihi…" Gajeel chuckled.

"Yes and thanks for leaving me on the god-forsaken train while I was still sick." Natsu spouted angrily as he laid his head against Lucy's shoulder as he sat down, letting her scent wash over him and drive away any remaining nausea.

"How did you get off anyways?" Lucy questioned as Happy stretched his wings before landing on her lap.

"I carried him off and flew him here." He chirped.

"And what's with the carrying-thing, pipsqueak?" Gajeel asked.

"The lady at the first desk told us no pets were allowed in here and I didn't want to be impolite so I told her that they were toy gifts for my new niece or nephew." Wendy answered as she let go of both Exceeds.

"Hmp. The nerve of that woman! Comparing our race to simple house cats!" Charle huffed angrily, smoothing out her skirt from any wrinkles.

"There's no point in arguing about it now. Let it go." Lily commented as he stood beside Gajeel.

"Wendy, I thought you were going to come with the rest of the guild later on today?" Lucy pointed out.

"Well I was but then I got a question that I wanted to ask you guys, specifically." Wendy shyly answered as she began to rock on her feet back and forth.

It got quiet for a bit before Gajeel took the initiative. "Well, what is it then?"

Wendy looked down to the floor before she asked as her face glowed pink in embarrassment. "Where do babies come from?"

Needless to say, it got quiet again real quick as everyone went slacked jaw. A pin drop could be heard before Charle asked in a stutter."Wendy w-w-why would ask that?"

"I just want to know!" The young sky dragon slayer replied in a squeak before saying, "I'm going to be a healer someday, so I figured who better to ask than the two couple I know closely and one is expecting."

Lucy laughed nervously as she told the young girl. "Wendy, I think it's best if you saved that question for Porlyusica when she gives you lessons."

"But why? Why can't you guys tell me?"

"'Cuz our answer might screw you up permanently." Gajeel muttered, looking far off as he recalled as to the reason why they were here.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

_**(Flashback eight months ago, two weeks after Tartarus…)**_

"_Come on shortstuff! Keep up with me."_

"_Ahh! Nnah! Gajeel!"_

_Pants escaped from the two mages as Gajeel continued to drive Levy insane with his heavy thrusts and domineering stature as he covered every bit of the Solid-Script mage's body and then some. Using one hand to balance himself off the bed, his other arm groped her luscious ass, using the hold to keep the girl's hips from moving as he thrusted into her, feeling the tip of his manhood kiss her womb repeatedly._

_Levy's eye shot open as she felt him ram into her. "Gajeel! I—I—!"_

_He knew what was coming as he felt her getting tighter and beginning to pulse. "Gihi. Yeah that's it, babe! Cum! Cum for the big bad dragon! I gotta see it." He growled darkly in her ear before he nibbled and licked the shell. _

_Levy threw her head back in a silent scream as she came, her body going rigid then convulsed, letting everything go in that moment. She felt light-headed; couldn't breathe, couldn't hear, couldn't see anything but white light as it consumed her._

_Gajeel watched as his petite mate convulsed in his arms, her eyes rolling to the back of her pretty head as she continued to let out a scream that wasn't there, feeling her body tighten up and release her honey onto his cock. After she stopped convulsing and her breath was let out in small gasps, he gently let her body fall back onto the mattress as he lifted himself to survey the damage, his hands resting on her hips as he kept his hard-on in her. _

_He could still feel the small tremors in her body quake in her body, giving her petite body a twitch here and there. The arms that held onto his neck were now in a haphazard position over head, accenting the glow on her that face: rolled back eyes that were still open with a few teardrops gathering at the corners, swollen lips open in a silent scream, her hair whipped across the pillow like a small cloud, and cheeks stained red. Simply put, she looked thoroughly fucked and she couldn't look more deliciously gorgeous._

"_Well, well, look at you. Ya look positively ravished, Shrimp." He let his arms slide up her body, stopping briefly to pinch and massage her breasts, letting his smile become predator-like as she let a sound that was cross between a moan and a squeak. His ego went through the roof when she was fucked into unconscious and now it was sky high as she responded to his touch, "Still so sensitive…" He slid his hands up to her wrists as he placed his mouth on her breast, sucking and nipping at it like a starving baby. "If ya don't wake up soon, I may just rape you."_

_His actions brought Levy out of her catalepticstate as she gasped. "Wh-what?" She moaned._

_Letting her breast go with a pop, he began to whisper into her ear. "It's not nice to pass out in the middle of love session, Shorty." He began to move his hips into a slow steady rhythm. "Especially since I'm still good-to-go."_

_Her words came out on pants and broken gasps. "Like I can…Oh God…help it!" She felt his hands move from her wrists to intertwine with hers. "Please, Gajeel don't stop!"_

"_Wouldn't dream of it babe. You're still talkin' too much though." He placed his lips over hers, taking advantage of her pants to thrust his tongue into her moist cavern, letting the sleek muscle tangle with hers. His thrusts began to pick up speed as he broke the kiss and trailed his teeth down to the column of her throat, placing love bites on her shoulders and collarbones._

_All Levy could do was hold on tight as she felt the familiar tingling grow and spark up a fire in her belly. She let a surprised squeak as Gajeel flipped the small mage onto her knees, letting her front fall on to her elbows as her hips were being supported by his large hands._

_His thrusts went deeper in this new position as he brought one arm around hers to bring her to his chest as the other snaked down to where their joined and began to stroke, pet, and roll her clit. All these sensations were driving her up the wall. "Gajeel—I—I can't!"_

"_Shh. You can. Let go for me, L-E-V-Y." He enunciated with each heavy thrust and growl. Ohh that did the poor girl in as she felt her mind go blank again. She was barely aware she felt her body being flipped back onto her back, her lover nuzzling into her neck, growling as he began to nibble her neck again, his thrusts never stopping. "Shit! Ya feel so damn good, Shortstuff!"_

_She knew that tone in his voice meant that he was close. She tried, as best she could under the intense amount of pleasure, a small tug on his hair. "You can't cum in me, Gajeel. It's not safe."_

"_Not safe for what, Shorty?"_

"_Baka, if you cum in me, I'll get pregnant."_

_It almost stopped Gajeel….almost…but the thought of Levy having his brat, one with her hair and her smile or his eyes and hair, it made his entire being swell as he doubled his efforts, leaving the petite mage to gasp and scream. "Gajeel, please! If you don't stop then—!"_

_Just before he released, he covered her body and he breathed into her ear. "Then get pregnant with my brat." He hissed/growled as he let go, feeling her being pushed over as well as he bit into her neck, sending them both into a euphoric daze. He licked the blood from her neck as his saliva went to work and healed the bite, letting the magic form and take shape, circling around her neck before each end stopped at her collarbone. _

_Now it was done. The tiny script mage known as Levy McGarden was officially the mate of the Iron Dragon Slayer._

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

He explained that he could smell when she was in her time of the month and that she was safe. He had also explained to her what he had done, saying that without a doubt no one else could have his heart and hopefully no one else would have hers.

By the end, she wore the brightest smile he had ever seen, despite the few tears that leaked out of her tired eyes, saying over and over again how much she loved him and thank you for returning her feelings. The afterglow that was around her that following morning made her shine with so much warmth and light that he truly wondered if Levy was angel.

Two weeks later, they were married.

They somehow managed to fit the entire guild and friends from the other guilds into the familiar cathedral that was once the battle ground for the Fairy Tail Royale. Even though the wedding ceremony was the picture perfect moment of unity and love between the two mages, with Levy in a pure white gown that hugged and accented her features, making her the picture definition of a fairy, even with the matching mark around her neck that now took the shape of serpentine dragon, and Gajeel in a matching white tux and his hair tied back, the reception spoke the true volumes of the joy and happiness that flowed through everyone, even through Jet and Droy, who ultimately wanted nothing more than Levy's happiness, even if it meant that it wasn't with either of them.

I mean, after all it was Fairy Tail. If it wasn't for the brawls that made their guild so widely-known, then it was the outrageous and eccentric parties that seemed to be frequently thrown. Funny enough they waited until the Groom had taken his beautiful petite Bride and mate for their dance to start, of all things, a food fight. By the end of the night, despite having wedding cake and confectioneries stuck in their hair and faces, Gajeel and Levy were indeed truly happy.

About another three weeks later, Gajeel and Lily began to notice that Levy was acting weirder than her usual self. She would have these weird mood swings, going from one extreme to another before finally starting to cuss herself. She was also starting to crave foods and snacks that were high in protein and metal-based vitamins such as rare steak (iron), raw kale and milk (calcium), walnuts (magnesium) and so on.

It didn't stick out to either of them as to what was wrong with Levy until she was at one of the guild tables with Gajeel, talking to Lucy about the new book she had gotten over the week. Mirajane had brought over a cup of tea for the ladies and a mug of mercury for the Iron Mage. Neither was paying attention to what they were doing: Gajeel was glaring at Gray and Natsu, threatening that if they didn't take their fight elsewhere, he was going to do it for them. After all, he didn't want his petite wife getting sucked into another blown-out brawl. Lucy was yelling at her fiancée (he popped the question pretty much around the same time as Gajeel did but decided to hold off on claiming Lucy as his mate until the actual day. Ironically enough neither of the dragon slayers had a clue as to what the other was doing) to knock it off, but it was her panicked cry that got the impeding fight to stop and everyone's gaze unto her.

Lucy had returned her attention to Levy, noticing that the petite mage was absently drinking out of her husband's mug while engrossed into her book. She would have thought nothing else if she didn't have a last minute memory snap and recalled that in the mug was _mercury._ By the time she had cried out her friend's name in a panick, she had yanked the mug out of the bewildered bluenette's hand and chucked it clear across the room.

This prompted a warning growl from Gajeel as to why bunny girl decided to use his drink as a Frisbee and startled his mate. Everybody within the hearing range of them (which meant the whole guild 'cuz let's face it ….they're nosey as hell), had their eyes bugged out as Lucy yelled at him that Levy had drunk more than half of the mercury in the mug, which was beyond the harmful level of ingesting said liquid metal to the average human body, mage or not. Hell it was well past the lethal level.

No sooner had she said that, Gajeel was running out the guild with a still confused Levy thrown over his shoulders, racing to Porlyusica's hut for a treatment.

Four excruciating hours later, they had both returned. Gajeel, with smirk that could best be described as pride, had gotten everyone's attention and thundered that he and Levy were going to be parents, the petite bluenette aglow with the news.

Yes sir, Levy wasn't poisoned but rather was carrying a baby that was indeed the child of the Iron Dragon Slayer, in more ways than one…

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

_**(Fast forward to the Present)**_

They had gotten everything imaginable ready for the new life that was soon to come. They had bought a fairly decent house that wasn't too far away from the guild, but was a good walking distance from the town. Gajeel and Lily handled most of the heavy lifting (despite Levy's protest in wanting to help), while Lucy, Juvia, and even Lisanna were helping Levy in decorating the baby room and picking up much needed material such as baby clothing, toys and whatnot that were given to the couple from the guild.

Of course there were whispers that they were moving too fast, that it's not proper for a couple to quickly move from dating, to marriage, to parenthood in little time, in less than a year. Honestly he didn't give a flyin' fuck about that shit and neither did his Shrimp. If they were goin' for time, they had been very close friends since before the start of the S-Class test so roughly about two years, (nine years if you want to throw in the seven year gap). And also, when a dragon (male or female, slayers or not) took a mate, that dragon would love that mate and _only_ that mate until the day death took either one of them.

Pretty soon, days and weeks flew by quickly, each time with Levy definitely showing the child that was growing within her. It both amazed and terrified Gajeel, which was the current thought process of said man. It was indescribable, watching his petite mate grown around with the child, feeling for the first time the small fluttering movement against his hand, listening to the heartbeat that was so small yet so strong.

But there was also that negligent thought that soon followed.

What if he screwed up? What if he messes up the kid in some way that will make him or her hate him? He leaned his forehead into his hands as terrifying thought chilled his entire body. Oh god, what if he hurt the child?! There was no guarantee that he could or could not but he had hurt Levy….who's to say that he wouldn't do the same to this newborn life that he and Levy created, unintentionally or not?

"Gajeel, you ok?" Lily's questioned snapped him out of his little dark tirade, looking up to see that everyone had their attention on him. Fuckin' perfect.

"Peachy why?" He growled not exactly proud that he was caught in a slightly vunerable (fuckin' understatement of the year) state.

"Tch. Yeah right bolts-for-brains. You look like you've seen a ghost." Natsu clicked slightly concerned for the older mage. There wasn't much that scared Gajeel but for a short split-second, it had look like he had truly saw his worst nightmare come to life.

"It's nothin'. Quit houndin' me, ash dick." He snapped back, not wanting to answer the subtle context question.

He was about to stand up and pace when he felt a small hand on his shoulder. Wendy was looking at him with a very familiar puppy look. "Gajeel, please tell us. What is causing this?"

Knowing he could do nothing, he sighed and began to spill out his darkest fears: of hurting his child, of somehow screwing the kid up, of having his own child hate his father if he ever found out the truth to his dark past and sins. Levy was always telling him that she forgave him for what happened, but he still couldn't forgive himself. That was something that can never truly go away.

After he had said his piece, he ducked his face to stare at the ground, the slight shadows hiding half of his face. Finally it was Natsu who talked. "So what?"

Lucy only looked at him in shock. "Natsu!"

"No, let me finish." He told her before going back to Gajeel. "So what if your kid finds out what you did? He's going to know at some point during his life what you've done, either from you, Levy, or from some drunk schmuck at the guild. That kind of thing can't be kept secretive. I would think that he would rather hear the truth from his parents rather than some twisted gossip from the public."

Gajeel and Lucy could only watch in wonderment as Natsu of all people continued with his words of wisdom. "The cool thing about kids is that they have their own path to follow, it's the parents' job to be the one to guide them, no matter how much they think they can control their kids lives."

Lucy snorted at this in remembrance.

"And honestly saying, Gajeel, I know you and Levy are going to do right by this kid, because you know what it was like on that dark path of destruction and you know how lonely and meaningless it was. Combine that with Levy's knowledge and heart, your kid is going to be one hell of a person."

Gajeel could hang his mouth as he took in what Natsu of all people was saying. It was…weird but strangely comforting coming from him. He could only let a small smile, genuine true smile, as he replied. "Yeah, I guess you're right for once, Salamander."

The others, however, were still shell-shocked. "Who are you and what the hell have done with Natsu?" Lucy questioned dumbfounded.

"I never would have guessed Natsu of all people could speak so sagely." Wendy mentioned.

Lily and Charle could only nod in agreement with the young Dragon Slayer.

"Of course, if your kid grows up to be scary-lookin' then that's all on you." Natsu finished as he chuckled.

"Aaaand he's back." Happy complained.

Just as Gajeel was about to jump up to pound Natsu's face in, the click of a door caught their attention as a a female doctor and nurse walked out. "Excuse me, Mr. Redfox?"

Gajeel nodded slowly, bracing himself for whatever happened next.

The doctor gave the nervous man a gentle smile before she answered. "You can go in and see your wife now."

Gajeel nodded again, numbingly taking his steps as he walked into the room and shut the door.

Before she left, the doctor looked towards the small group to address them. "Can you be sure that only a few people at a time are allowed in the room? I have to place a call to the maternity ward down the hall."

"Of course we can, doctor. Thank you so much for helping our friend." Lucy replied.

The doctor could only smile. "Don't thank me. It's what I do." And with that, she turned and walked down the hall.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Inside the room, Gajeel eyes immediately went straight to Levy. To say that she looked completely exhausted would have been understatement. The soft blue hair that he loved was matted to her forehead, those beautiful hazel eyes that were always so captivating to him held this new spark in them despite the dark circles that gathered under her lids. She still looked so beautiful but this new afterglow that surrounded her truly made her a vision. His eyes continued to travel down to the two swaddling bundles that were against her chest to….

What the—!

Hold up!

Gajeel's eyes went back to the two bundles that were lying on Levy. This had to be a dream. He rubbed his eyes. Then he rubbed them again. Nope, there were still two. He checked his head for some kind of bump; maybe he hit the doors harder then he thought he did. Yep there were still two babies.

"I can assure you, Mr. Redfox, you are not seeing double." The red-headed nurse answered as she looked up from the clipboard in her hand.

Gajeel barely registered walking to the bed and pulling up a chair. "Twins?" He asked.

"We were surprised as well. The baby boy came first. His sister was the surprise visit." The nurse told him.

Gajeel looked confused to say the least. He had son AND a daughter? "But how?" He asked. He was pretty sure that he heard one heartbeat when the kid—sorry—-children were still in Levy.

The nurse smiled and looked at Levy's chart on her clipboard. "It says here that you two never went for a ultrasound. Not surprising considering that lot of the times when a female mage is pregnant, the magic from either the mother or the child will block out the ultrasound. Since you had no problems during your pregnancy, there was no real need for the ultrasound." A beeping noise was heard from her as she answered a pocket lacryima. "Excuse me, I have to take this." The nurse then exited out of the room.

Gajeel nodded as he understood what was being said, but still couldn't wrap his mind around it. It's just…..how….damn….we made twins?

"Gajeel." The sweet tone of his mate called his attention to her again. "I think these two want to meet their daddy."

Gajeel's eyes widened as he heard her call him daddy? Daddy? As in father? This was something he was going to get used to.

The Iron Dragon Slayer instinctive held out his hands as Levy placed one baby then the other into his arms, letting him took a good look at the bundles. They were wrapped in white blankets, one baby, his little girl, had a pink headband placed over her sky blue hair while the other, his little man, had nothing to cover his onyx hair. He could see the small slivers of pink skin which made up their tiny arms and the round puff balls that made up their faces and cheeks. From there he saw how small their hands were, how tiny their button nose and eyes were, how cute they were when the small boy opened his mouth to yawn while his sister opened her eyes briefly before closing them again, letting him catch a glimpse of red in them.

He looked up to his mate, the smile in his face never losing the warmth he felt. "They're perfect."

Levy's smile never lost its shine as she brought one hand to soothingly caress her son's small head. "Of course they are. They are _our_ children."

Gajeel let a small purr escape his throat as he agreed before they settled into a comfortable silence.

Levy." Gajeel whispered to his mate.

"Yes?" She whispered back.

"What are their names?" He asked.

Levy chuckled tiredly. "Yeah, I guess we didn't get that far in deciding what to name them, huh?"

"No." Gajeel responded.

Levy closed her eyes in thought before she opened them again. "I remember for the longest time, ever since I was a small girl, there was this name that I liked. I had assumed that I heard it from one of my books, but now that I think about it, I could never really remember where I heard it from. And when I had gotten that baby name book from Juvia, I found it again."

"What was the name, Levy?" Gajeel asked curiously.

She looked at him before trailing her eyes down to where their son was sleeping. "It was Temujin. It's from an ancient word that meant Iron. I know that you didn't want to name our child because you felt as though you couldn't forgive yourself after what happened with Phantom Lord and you felt unworthy because of it," she him cringe a bit before bringing her hand up to cup his face soothingly. "Yes it was iron that hurt me in the first place and bounded me to the tree, but it was the wielder who help me, helped us become what we are now. You protected me with iron when Laxus shot that lightning bolt at me, you 'made me big' and re-fortified me when you chose to be my partner for the S-Class test, and it was iron you used to defeat Torufusa and his poisonous water in Tartarus. You see, Gajeel even though iron was used as a means for destruction, it has helped me more times than it has harmed me. And I wanted our child to represent the iron bond that has grown and created the life between us."

His little shrimp, she had an incredible way of knocking the very breath out of him and leave him speechless. He looked down to his son, testing the name on his tongue. "Temujin. Temujin Redfox." He smiled as he envisioned a young man, so much like him and Levy, that he emitted the strong bond that was held between them. "It's a very strong name."

"So you like it?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course." He answered as he handed his son, Temujin, gently to his mother and shifted his daughter over to his other arm.

"How about for her?" She motioned towards her daughter.

Gajeel looked down at his little girl, letting the small warmth fill his body. "When I walked into the room, I had no idea what to expect, but when I saw you carrying our children, it was like when I saw you cracking that pretty boy's runes to help us beat Laxus for the first time. Your smile reminded me so much like a light. You said that you wanted our child to represent the bond that grew between us, well I was thinking that I wanted our child to represent the light, 'cuz before they came into this world," he looked back up at Levy with all the warmth and love that felt for her, for them in that moment. "You were my light. Hell you still are. You were the light that helped me off the dark path I was on when I was still with Phantom Lord. You were the light that I saw when we're being attacked by Grimoire Heart on Tenrou Island and you were my light in the dark, my air, when that fishy boy tried to kill us with his dark water. Now that these two are born, it's like adding more light to my dark soul."

Poor Levy. She didn't know what to say. Gajeel was a man of few words, but the few words he did say, he meant them. To hear him say that much about them, about their family, she couldn't help but cry a little. As she sniffled a bit, she felt him gently wipe away the tears. "So does this mean that you have a name for her?"

"Yeah I do." He looked back down to the little girl, gently moving the soft fuzz that made up her hair. "Before Pops disappeared, I remembered him having a mate. Even though she was metal dragon too, I remembered her scales being so clear that whenever she was in the sun, the light would make her look like she was a light dragon rather than a metal one."

"Was she your mother?" Levy asked.

"Yeah. I don't remember much of her, except that her voice was always warm and soothing. When she passed, from what I don't know, I cried for days on end. Pops took it harder; every night when he thought I was asleep, he would sneak out to one of the mountain ranges nearby and roar his head off. That was the only time I had ever heard a dragon's roar that sounded so heart-breaking."

Levy went quiet for bit before saying. "You know, you don't have to chose that name if don't want to."

Gajeel shook his head. "No, it's alright. I'm sure my mother would have loved it. Hell, I think Pops would have koshed me over the head if I didn't choose this name for our daughter."

"So what was her name?" Levy asked.

"Zahara. In the dragon's tongue, it meant 'one who is the light'." Gajeel answered.

"It's more than perfect. Zahara Redfox, our light." Levy elaborated.

"Yeah. Temujin," he motioned towards the sleeping boy," and Zahara Redfox. As beautiful and strong as their mother." He replied back as he leaned in to passionately kiss his lovely mate, the mother of his children.

They broke apart at the sound of someone knocking at the door. It was Lucy who popped her head in. "Hey guys, think you can handle a couple of visitors?"

Gajeel stood up, handing his baby girl, Zahara, back to Levy as she rearranged both babies against her chest. "Sure bunny girl."

A small commotion was heard from outside the door, suggesting that the rest of the Guild had arrived. Pretty soon it was Master Makarov, Lucy, Natsu, Wendy, the Exceeds, Juvia, Gray and Erza who filled the room. As they walked in, Gajeel took one more look at his family to see that both babies had opened their eyes and both had a tiny smile on their faces as Levy looked down at them with a smile of her own.

In that moment, Gajeel knew that this kind of glow, the afterglow of a new mother bonding with her children, would last for a lifetime and beyond that since it was his mate and his children, her children, _their_ children.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

_Temujin- Means "of iron" in Mongolian, derived ultimately from the Turkic word temür "iron". This was the original name of the Mongolian leader better known by the title Genghis Khan._

_Zahara- Means "light, brilliance" in Hebrew_

_With Levy's pregnancy, I've read in couple of manga and other fanfics that whenever a pregnant woman was carrying a child of preternatural parentage, the mother would always crave and eat whatever foods were to be favorites to the parents ie. kappas = cucumbers and water, dragons = depends on the element of the parent(s), fairies = sweets such as honey, milk, pastries. I've figured since if Gajeel was the parent, it make sense for one of his children to crave metal, especially while in the womb._

_Review my lovelies! _


End file.
